An Out of This World Friendship
by Lisa Moulton
Summary: Never tell an alien that one of the locals is crazy...
1. Never Tell Her Someone is Crazy

**THIS STORY IS MARY SUE! IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T READ IT!**

**Author's Notes: After moving back to New Jersey I happened to catch the _Trilogy_ as it aired on Encore and various similar channels. My computer didn't have Internet so I had to surf on Donna, my Samsung Omnia, and wound up on re-reading Flaming Trails' stories. My muse was beginning to awaken and don a _Back to the Future_ suit, causing me to try to come up with ideas of how AL met Doc. The final idea bit me at about 2AM on a Monday morning. Originally, Einstein was going to be run over but I decided against that for two reasons: 1) Einstein is way too smart to run into the street or follow a stranger and 2) AL can't heal severe injuries. Also originally, Doc and Einie were going to be playing fetch with a tennis ball, but when I realized that the fence around Doc's house was too high for a good bounce (even with TK), I changed it to Frisbee. I deliberately made it ambiguous as to whether this is Twin Pines or Lone Pine (and it wasn't easy writing for Marty in that case).**

**Trivia and In-Jokes: June 30, 1983 10:28AM is the exact day and time I was born. Now, I really should've set it to 7:28AM since California is 3 hours behind New Jersey, however AL, like me, doesn't do breakfast and so would wait 'til later in the day so she can get lunch. Besides, if I were Marty, even if Doc _was_ my best friend, I wouldn't be visiting so early in the morning. :p Unless, of course, he'd made a major breakthrough and needed my assistance. ^^ Before showing up in Hill Valley, AL had previously hung out with Richie Cunningham and Fonzie in Wisconsin and the Sweathogs and the Sunshine Cab Co. crew in New York (not at the same time). The newspaper in the trash is just a nod to the first _Back to the Future_. The explosion that wiped AL's memories happened a couple of decades before this story. The unicorns have told her when her birthday was and she won't argue since she doesn't remember it. The best friend is the Doctor, whom AL had been separated from (Sixth, if you're curious) near the end of "Mindwarp", an installment of "The Trial of a Time Lord", on the planet Thoros-Beta. He has an affinity for humans that no link could ever help AL to understand (never mind that a good portion of her guys were human).**

_Chapter One: Never Tell Her Someone is Crazy_

Thursday  
June 30, 1983  
10:28AM  
Hill Valley, California

This wasn't exactly what she was aiming for.

Lisa looked around at the town she'd arrived in. Well, it was warmer than Wisconsin or New York, that was for certain. It also didn't seem like it was too far off from 1982, technology-wise, judging by the surroundings.

She proceeded to walk around and passed by a sign that announced "Welcome to the City of Hill Valley". City, huh? Well, okay, that told her _where_. How about _when_? Trying to avoid probing someone's mind for a year, she continued her stroll through what she supposed was the town square and caught sight of a newspaper in the trash. She read the date across the top.

"June 30th, 1983. Hah. Day I was born. Or whatever." Lisa said to no one. She'd been told that was her birth date and, since she couldn't remember anyway, it was good enough for her. She looked up to the clock set in the tower overhead to see the time only to realize the thing wasn't working – stuck at 10:04. Pity.

Shrugging to herself, she figured she'd stick around a little while and enjoy the sunshine. Why not? It's not like she had anything else to do. Time traveling on her own was very anticlimactic especially when the best friend she was trying to get back to had last been seen on a planet light-years away from Earth and, for some reason, she couldn't hope to reunite with him anytime soon.

With a sigh, Lisa put her hands in her pockets and kept walking, soon finding herself in front of a Burger King. Deciding she was hungry, she went to enter the establishment but she stopped short when she saw a building sitting in the middle of the parking lot. Weird. Weirder still was she noticed a boy skateboarding towards it, opening the gate and walking inside to be greeted by a barking dog – **_"Hi, Marty! Hi, Marty! Marty's here!"_** the pooch was saying – and an older man with a gravelly voice.

_Hm._ Lisa thought, finally walking into the restaurant. When it was her turn to order and after she did so, while digging in her pockets for money, she commented, "You know there's a building in your parking lot?"

Though the quip was intended to be good-natured, the expression on the face of the girl behind the counter was a mixture of disgust and horror. The thoughts that were now being projected from her were so loud and disjointed it was almost painful. Something about a…crazy mad scientist?

"You don't know?" the girl said as she made change.

"Well, I just arrived in town…"

"The guy who lives there is a lunatic! He's dangerous!" said the girl, eyes wide. "He's this crazy mad scientist who does all these weird experiments…we're always hearing weird noises and explosions coming from that place."

Lisa was frowning. "But I saw someone going over there – "

"That's Marty McFly," she said. "He's nuts, too. Started hanging out with Lunatic Brown a few months ago…I bet he's doing experiments on him, forcing him to be his friend. It's best to stay away from the both of 'em."

That caused the alien to roll her eyes, her invisible wings turning red at the tips. She didn't even know this "Brown", yet she felt anger towards the way he was being talked about. It wasn't right at all.

Feigning politeness, Lisa thanked the girl, took her food and change and left the building. Hearing things like that made her seethe; it downgraded her opinion of the human race. She never understood what her best friend saw in the species.

Sitting outside to eat, she found out that one thing the girl had said was true: there _were_ noises coming from the…well, you couldn't describe it as a house. It looked more like a garage. Whatever word used to describe it, there were indeed noises coming from inside, but Lisa wouldn't describe them as "weird". From what she could hear, the dog wanted to play Frisbee and the man and the boy were talking about the upcoming 4th of July, not to mention she could hear the ticking of a _lot_ of clocks. She supposed that normal conversation couldn't be heard by normal humans, though what she was hearing sounded innocent enough.

_"I gotta go. I'm meeting Jennifer for lunch. I'll see you later, Doc,"_ said the voice of the boy. _"Bye-bye, Einie."_

_"All right, Marty."_

**_"Bye, Marty!"_** said the dog.

As Lisa watched, the boy left the house and skateboarded away, smiling. She heard another door open and close and the dog barking again, apparently getting his game of Frisbee. After throwing away her trash, she meandered around the garage and found that the privacy fence erected in the front of the building surrounded it. She peeked through a hole in the planks and saw a tall man with wild white hair and wide brown eyes throwing a tennis ball at a large dog. Hey, if he had a dog, he couldn't be all bad, could he?

Now, how could she get them to meet?

She eyed the bright red Frisbee as it soared overhead and smiled. Perfect. Waiting for the right moment, she gave a nudge of telekinesis to lift the toy up and over the fence. She made a point of making her footsteps more defined and gave a _faux_ squeak of surprise as she TK'ed the Frisbee into her hands.

"Great Scott!" the man yelped as the dog barked.

**_"Hey, my Frisbee!"_**

"Don't worry," shouted Lisa, "I got it!"

"Thank you, miss," said the man though his thoughts said, _I wonder how I could persuade her to throw it over the fence so she won't see who I am_…_though if she were walking by the house, she probably already knows who I am_…_however, if she already knows, then why hasn't she just thrown the Frisbee and run?_

Frankly the thoughts were depressing Lisa. Clearing her throat, she said, "I'll meet you at your front gate and give it back to you."

_Damn._ "Uh…why don't you just toss it over? That way you won't have to traverse around the building."

"Don't be silly." Lisa said in her determined voice. "Besides, I'd like to meet your dog if you don't mind. I love animals." Without waiting for an answer, she jogged to the front gate and waited.

_May as well get this over with_… said his thoughts.

After a minute a door opened and out walked the man and dog. Now that she could see more clearly, she could see why the locals were leery of the guy. His white hair stuck out in all sorts of directions and his chocolate brown eyes had a crazy gleam in them. He was wearing a white lab coat, Hawaiian shirt and many-pocketed cargo pants. The dog panting at his side looked like a sheepdog mixed with something else.

The dog…she'd forgotten that animals could see her as she really was. The mutt eyed her and barked. **_"I like your wings. Hey, can I have my Frisbee back?"_**

Well, this canine seemed smarter than the ones she usually encountered. Other dogs would be barking like crazy at her wings and strange scent. Smiling, she proffered the wayward toy with one hand and stuck the other out at the man. "Hi, I'm Lisa. I just got into town today."

The dog sniffed her and took the Frisbee while the man hesitantly shook her hand. _That explains why she's acting so friendly,_ he thought and said, "Dr. Emmett Brown." _Go ahead_…_turn and flee_…_I'm sure you've heard of my reputation._

Though Lisa had, she didn't plan to do anything of the sort. "Pleasure to meet you, Dr. Brown. What's your dog's name?"

_Really?_ "Einstein."

Lisa knelt so she was face-to-face with the dog and held a hand out to him. "Hi, Einstein."

Einstein dropped the Frisbee and licked her knuckles. **_"Hello!"_**

Dr. Brown looked astonished. "That's amazing. He usually doesn't take to strangers that swiftly."

"I have a thing with animals." Lisa said quite honestly, standing straight. Not wanting to push her luck, she said, "I'd better be going. Nice meeting you, Dr. Brown. Enjoy your Frisbee, Einstein."

**_"I will!"_**

"Have a nice day, Dr. Brown."

_Unbelievable._ "Thank you."

_End chapter one._


	2. Hearing the News

**Trivia and In-Jokes: How Marty met Doc was taken from page 14 of the 4th draft (10/84) screenplay of the original _Back to the Future_ by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale as stated on Kristen Sheley's website: "A couple of years ago, he showed up at my house and hired me to sweep out this garage of his. He pays me 50 bucks a week, gives me free beer…and gives me total access to his record collection – he's got this great old record collection." I just left out the "free beer" part.**

_Chapter Two: Hearing the News_

Marty McFly skateboarded back to Doc's house. Since his birthday, he'd been trying to find ways to earn money for a sweet guitar he'd seen in the music shop and Doc had shown up on his doorstep a week ago and offered him a job sweeping out his garage and doing other odd jobs around the place. He could kind of see why the general population of Hill Valley thought he was nuts; hell, Marty himself thought so until he'd gotten to know the scientist.

Doc Brown _wasn't_ crazy. He just had an…offbeat way of looking at life. He had an eccentric way of dressing, his hair was kind of wild, his eyes always sparkled with energy and he _really_ enjoyed science. Other than that, he seemed perfectly normal. Plus he had a dog and very rarely was a guy with a dog crazy.

The 15-year-old had just come from lunch with his girlfriend, Jennifer. He'd invited her over to Doc's for the 4th of July; unfortunately, she already had to go to her grandmother's for the holiday and wouldn't be back until the next day. He was disappointed, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. He was just glad that his parents weren't making him go anywhere. When Doc had told him that all he did for the 4th was watch the fireworks on TV and try to keep the punks from shooting firecrackers outside his door, he'd felt sorry for the scientist and decided to change his holiday traditions. That's what friends were for, right?

With a sigh he kicked his skateboard up and entered Doc's garage. Einstein heard him and padded up to the teen, barking a greeting. It amazed Marty how smart the canine was. But look who he had for an owner.

Marty scratched the mutt behind the ears and looked around for Doc. He spotted a pair of khaki-ed legs poking out from underneath that DeLorean he'd been working on since before they met.

"Hey, Doc," he said.

_Clang!_ "Great Scott!" Doc scooted out from underneath the car, rubbing his head.

Marty winced. "Sorry, Doc. I didn't mean to scare ya."

The older man stood up. "No, it's all right, Marty. I've been…distracted since you left. I had a rather unusual encounter."

"Really? What happened?"

"Well, Einstein and I were outdoors playing Frisbee when the toy flew over the fence and caught by a young woman named Lisa. She returned it to me…and she wasn't frightened of me. And Einstein took to her like he'd known her forever, which is unusual for him."

"Huh," said Marty. "Well, _everyone_ can't be scared of you, can they?"

Doc shrugged. "I'm sure it was simply because she was new to the area and hadn't heard of my reputation yet."

"C'mon, Doc." He reached out to give his back a pat. "Don't get yourself down. You're a great guy and it's not your fault that the people in this town are too stupid to understand that. And this just means that there're some people out there who are smarter than that."

Doc had to smile. "Thank you, Marty. That truly means a lot."

"No problem. So, uh…you think you'll see her again?"

He shrugged again. "Who knows? It would be pleasant if I did, but if I don't, then so be it. In the meantime, would you give me a hand with the DeLorean?"

_End chapter two._


	3. Through Injury Comes Healing

**Trivia and In-Jokes: 1:21AM is for 1.21 gigawatts, of course.**

_Chapter Three: Through Injury Comes Healing_

Sunday  
July 3, 1983  
1:21AM

Lisa had spent the past few days wandering around Hill Valley absorbing what she could about the town – sorry, city. She spent some time in the library, walked around the high school's grounds as it was closed for the summer, and hung out in the courthouse square. She had a feeling that this place was once very beautiful…thirty years ago, maybe. Now, though, it seemed as if most of the stores were closing down, there was a bum that hung around the square at night and a lot of adult businesses were opening up. Lisa wasn't sure what that said about Hill Valley.

The one point of interest that she kept coming across was the subject of Dr. Emmett Brown. Every projected thought she managed to hear considered him a dangerous menace to society. He'd been ostracized since he was a child; too smart for his own good, she supposed. It still wasn't right.

Finding herself unable to sleep one morning, she decided to have a fly around the nightlife. She wound up hovering over Dr. Brown's garage and noticed the lights still on, but she couldn't hear anything much over the wind whistling in her ears.

As she watched, she noticed a couple of dark figures loitering around the fence. They were kneeling by the gate, gesturing animatedly. Frowning, she landed behind the Burger King building and peeked around the corner to watch.

It was two young males, one in a leather jacket, and they were whispering to each other, hunched over something in their hands. The whispers and thoughts came in a cacophony of sound she couldn't sort through right away. Before Lisa could fully comprehend what was happening, the kids had backed away and one of them threw something large and heavy into one of Dr. Brown's windows, shattering the glass, then they both hightailed it out of there. So intent was her listening in on what was going on, the sound of glass was piercingly loud and she clapped her hands over her ears, stunned for a moment.

"Great Scott!" Dr. Brown shouted as Einstein started barking. The scientist and dog came running out of the garage and that's when Lisa saw the spark of light near the gate.

"Look out!" she yelled but it was too late. A set of firecrackers went off just as Einstein neared the gate. The dog yelped in surprise and pain and Lisa had to shield her eyes from the light.

"Great Scott!" the scientist shouted again, this time frightened. "Einstein!"

Through the spots dancing in front of her eyes she saw poor Einstein lying on his side, crying with pain, and Dr. Brown rushing to his dog's side. Without even thinking, Lisa hurried over, giving the spent firecrackers a TK toss to get them out of the way. The dog had burns on the entire right side of his body, but the blast had thankfully missed his face.

**_"Help me…"_** Einstein whined weakly. **_"Please…"_**

_Great Orion,_ she thought to herself as she surveyed the injury. _Is this too severe for me to heal?_ Hoping it wasn't the case, she had to allow herself the most energy she could get out of her body. "Stay back," she instructed Dr. Brown. "Einstein, hold still…"

"What are you doing?" asked the stricken inventor. Tears were falling from his liquid-chocolate eyes.

Fully aware of Dr. Brown kneeling not two feet away, Lisa made her wings visible – she saw his eyes widen – and held out her hands, palm down, over Einstein's burns. Squeezing her eyes shut and concentrating with every ounce and pore of her being, she activated her healing power and her hands began to glow a soft orange.

_Please heal him,_ she thought to herself, urging the desire into her healing energy. _Please let him be okay_…

"Great Scott…" Dr. Brown whispered a final time as he watched Lisa pass her hands over the burns and saw them fade away.

Only when Lisa finally sensed the healing was complete did she open her eyes. Where Einstein had had burns was now healthy pink skin, marred only by faint scars that would be covered by his fur when it grew back. Tears of relief fell from her eyes, her head beginning to swim, and she blacked out.

_End chapter three._


	4. Unveiling the Truth

**Trivia and In-Jokes: For the layout of Doc's garage I found a lovely site, .com (the site itself is in French, but there are pictures), that has little diagrams of places around Hill Valley.**

_Chapter Four: Unveiling the Truth_

When consciousness finally returned to her, Lisa found herself lying in a bed on her side in a room with the shades drawn, sunlight streaming through the gaps, her wings splayed out behind her. The ticking of numerous clocks was a little overwhelming at first and she held her hands over her ears until she got it under control.

There was a low whine from near her head. **_"Are you okay?"_** asked Einstein. He was lying beside her, head on his paws, watching her intently. **_"You've been asleep for a long time."_**

Lisa took note of the sun and the fact that she didn't feel as weak as she should have after the healing process. "I figured," she said softly, sitting up and folding her wings properly. She looked around and saw she was inside Dr. Brown's garage, which looked more like a house from the inside than it did outside. His bedroom was a small area with a bed, of course, an armoire, a chair, lamp, a washing machine and small refrigerator. Of course, everything was blurry because her glasses were off. Squinting, she searched for them.

"They're right here," said Dr. Brown's voice and he handed her her glasses.

"Thank you." She put them on, bringing the scientist into focus. He was standing near the bed with an odd expression on his face. "Hi," she said lamely. "How long was I out?"

"Approximately eight hours," he answered. "Einstein hasn't left your side. I'm very grateful for whatever it is you did for him. You saved his life." He eyed her wings. "I've never really believed in angels until now…"

Lisa made an inward groan. "I'm not an angel, Dr. Brown."

"Then…?"

"I'm an alien. My home planet is called Alnilam."

He frowned. "Isn't that a star in the constellation of Orion?"

Lisa nodded. "Yes. The planet was named after the star. The healing is one of my abilities, but it takes a lot out of me. The more complicated it is, the more energy it takes. That's why I passed out. And I wasn't able to sleep last night, so that's why I was out for so long."

"I see. Unbelievable."

"Yeah…I'd ask you not tell anyone, but I've heard of your reputation." She winced at the hurt expression that flashed across his face, instantly regretting it. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it that way!" She stood up a little too quickly and she fell against Dr. Brown into his arms. Ignoring the momentary weakness, she said, "I think the way that the people in this town treat you is absolute crap! It isn't right!"

Dr. Brown blinked. _I can't believe it_…_she doesn't even know me and already she's defending me?_

"I like you," she said, steadying herself. "I saw those two punks putting the firecrackers by your fence."

"Do you have any idea who they were?"

Lisa shut her eyes and thought back eight hours. Filtering through the thoughts and whispers she'd heard, something stuck out. " 'Needles'?"

The scientist seemed to recognize the word, nodding. "Douglas J. Needles, local teenage bully. He's often causing trouble for myself and my friend, Marty." He sighed. "There's no hope in getting any confessions out of him even if he _did_ almost kill my dog."

Her wings flashed red as the anger rose, Dr. Brown raised a white eyebrow and she forced herself to calm down. She turned away and got a good look at the house. Amongst the more-or-less traditional household amenities and the huge collection of clocks, Dr. Brown had a lot of junk and strange-looking things sitting around the place. Thinking back to her friend's workshop, she could definitely tell this was the home of a scientist who loved what he did.

"What brings you to Earth?" he asked suddenly.

She turned back to him. "I travel a lot and if I don't have a destination in mind, where and when I wind up is random. I wound up here and heard so much about you, I was intrigued. Like I said, I hated the way the people in this town thought and spoke about you. I saw you with your friend, Marty. I saw you with Einstein. I figured you couldn't be all bad."

Dr. Brown's mind latched on to certain words: "when I wind up", "thought…about you". He was piecing together what else he thought she could do and one stood out more than the rest: "You can _time travel_?"

Lisa nodded. "Only by myself, though. I can't take anyone with me. And, yeah, I can read minds, but only whatever comes through loudest or if I'm really trying." She looked down at Einstein who had left the bed and was sticking very close to her. "Look, Dr. Brown, I'm more than willing to tell you whatever you want to know about me, but there's something I'd like to know first."

"And what's that?"

"Any chance I could have something to eat? I'm starving!"

Laughing, the scientist took her hand to show her the breakfast machine.

_End chapter four._


	5. A New Friend

**Trivia and In-Jokes: "You don't look like an alien." up to 'Take me to your leader, Earthlings'! I'll admit was lifted from _Race to Witch Mountain_. I had to. I'm sorry. :) "Now you see me…Now you do." is from the "Origin Story" serial of the '90s _The Tomorrow People_.**

_Chapter Five: A New Friend_

It was nearing 10AM when Marty skateboarded up to Doc's house. He frowned when he heard a female voice coming from inside the garage. When he entered, he found his friend sitting having breakfast with a young woman with long brown hair, glasses and brown eyes. Einstein was lying almost on top of her feet. Marty's frown deepened when he saw the big bald spot on the dog's right side.

"Holy shit!" the teen exclaimed, dropping the skateboard. "Doc, what happened to Einstein?"

"Needles is what happened to Einstein," he replied. "He set off firecrackers and poor Einie was caught in the blast."

"That son of a bitch!" Marty seethed. "I'll kill him!"

"Calm down, Marty," said Doc, standing and putting a hand on the teen's shoulder. "Violence won't solve anything. Einie and I were very lucky that Lisa was nearby." He nodded towards the girl sitting quietly on an armchair.

"Hi," she said, extending a hand. "I'm Lisa. Dr. Brown's told me a lot about you."

Marty shook her hand. "You're the one Doc met on Thursday?" She nodded. "But, wait, I don't get it. If Einie was caught in the fireworks…how'd he come off with just a big bald spot?" He looked closer and saw the faint scars. "What the hell?"

Doc and the girl, Lisa, exchanged a look. "Marty," the scientist said, "sit down and we'll try to explain."

He sat where Doc had been sitting, slightly confused. "What the hell's goin' on?" he asked.

"I was hanging around outside by the Burger King when I saw two guys huddled around Dr. Brown's fence," said Lisa. "Before I knew what was happening, one of them threw a brick through one of the windows, luring Dr. Brown and Einstein outside. The fireworks went off and Einstein was very badly burned. But not too badly, thank Orion."

Marty frowned again, this time at her choice of words, but kept quiet and let her continue the narrative.

"Marty, I'm not like normal people. In fact, I'm not human. I'm an alien from another planet and I have the ability to heal mild to moderate injuries." She held her hands up, palms out, and to Marty's surprise they began to glow orange.

"Holy shit…"

The glow faded after a few seconds. "The energy required to heal something like that was more than my body could handle, probably because his injuries were more severe than I probably had the ability to heal in the first place, so afterward I passed out. Einstein is very lucky he just came out of it with the scars. It could've very well been a lot worse…his fur will cover the spot as it grows back in."

Marty eyed her, on the cusp of believing her and not, teetering on the line.

"You don't believe me," she said.

"Well, you don't _look_ like an alien."

She blinked. "What do aliens look like?"

"Well, like little green people with antennas and 'Take me to your leader, Earthlings'!"

That made Lisa roll her eyes. "Okay, you want proof. I have the ability to move things with my mind."

"Get outta town!" said Marty, then he was aware of something behind him. He turned and exclaimed in shock when he noticed his skateboard hovering half a foot away along with two empty cans of dog food. His eyes went wide. "Holy shit!"

"You say that a lot." The cans flew back into the trash and the skateboard settled gently to the floor. "Still not convinced?"

"Getting there…" Marty admitted.

"Okay, then. How's this? Now you see me…" She disappeared in a flash of light and crackle of energy. The same effect signaled her reappearance behind him, startling him. "Now you do. That's called teleporting. Want to try?" She held out a hand to him.

"Maybe some other time…wow, can you do anything else?"

"Show him." Doc said.

"Show me what?"

Two enormous golden wings shimmered into view behind her. "There's these, plus some other stuff. I can read minds, talk to animals…Einstein feels he owes me, so that's why he's hasn't let me out of his sight since the accident."

The dog barked and whined, nuzzling her.

"He said I saved his life."

"You did," agreed Doc.

"I know, but it really was nothing. I love animals and I could help, so I did."

"Lisa," said Doc, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Telepathic or not, I don't think you truly comprehend what your actions meant to me. Not many people in this town would have stopped and looked twice at what happened to Einstein especially when the accident occurred within my property. You've seen for yourself how I'm treated by society…it wouldn't matter. If you hadn't been there, Einstein most likely would have perished from his injuries or, at the very least, would have been hospitalized in order to be healed and the process would most likely have been extremely painful for him. I don't know if I would be able to handle that. If Einstein feels he's indebted to you, he has a right to. As do I. I am eternally grateful to you."

Marty could see how Doc had been affected by the incident with Einstein. The dog had been the scientist's only friend until the teen had come along. He said, "Well, Doc…you know, it'd be pretty cool to have an alien for a friend."

"Now, Marty, you have to promise you won't tell anyone. If an eccentric inventor gets ostracized by society, imagine what a stir an extraterrestrial would cause."

"Cross my heart!" he promised, grinning. "Need-to-know basis only!"

Lisa smiled. "Well, Dr. Brown, I guess you're stuck with me."

Doc smiled, too. "In that case, you don't have to keep calling me Dr. Brown. I told you that first day that my first name is Emmett."

The alien – Marty's mind boggled at using the actual term – actually frowned. "Emmett…" she tried, saying it slowly. "Eh, I really can't see myself calling you that…"

"I felt the same way," said Marty. "That's why I started calling him 'Doc'. You could, too." The scientist nodded his acquiescence.

"Well, Doc, Marty, Einstein…this seems to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

_End chapter five._


	6. Closer Than Ever

**Trivia and In-Jokes: 2:21PM is the time I wrote it, but I wrote it at AM. The entourage of humans, aliens and tin dogs is paraphrasing Sarah Jane Smith's line from "School Reunion". Zooming around space and time, saving planets, fighting monsters, and being…well, pretty sort of marvelous is the Fifth Doctor's line from "Time Crash". I just left out the "let's be honest" part. Saturn is the only planet with rings was an actual question from a science book my sister had in her youth. She'd put "false" and got the question wrong and my dad fought the school system due to the book being inaccurate. A lot of the dialogue and stuff from the party was taken from V's _Best Friends Forever and Then Some_. What else could be done? 12:27PM was the time I wrote it, 'cept at AM. The clock AL found I found online on eBay. :)**

_Chapter Six: Closer Than Ever_

Wednesday  
October 19, 1983  
2:21PM

It really was amazing how Lisa, Doc and Marty had bonded over the past few months. She'd also met Marty's girlfriend Jennifer, who was the last to find out about Lisa's origins only because she'd come over before Einstein's fur had grown back and needed to have the incident explained. Lisa didn't mind as long as her secret was kept. It felt good to be around this small group of humans that could accept her for what she was. It was almost like old times with her best friend.

It was nights that she thought of him the most when her dreams would take over. Every night since they'd been separated she'd dream about him. She'd dreamt about him the first night she spent over at Doc's. They'd been up all night working on some special, secret project (a project that he seemed to be able to block from her, interestingly) and she'd fallen asleep at the desk she'd been sitting at. Doc had lifted her and carried her to the bed, taking the cot for himself.

The dream caused her to wake up crying. The dream that was a memory of better times when she and her best friend and his entourage of humans, aliens and tin dogs would go zooming around space and time, saving planets, fighting monsters, and being…well, pretty sort of marvelous.

Doc had heard her that night. He went to her side and, hesitantly at first, held her in his arms while she cried. It was another strange thing…being in Doc's arms felt so _right_. She'd pulled him close, burying her face in his chest and let it all out of her system.

Afterward, she'd explained everything. Doc had listened patiently, understanding the need for companionship, and asked her to stay there in the garage with him. That way, neither of them would have to spend nights alone.

The feelings she got from hanging around Doc were unlike any she'd felt before. She grew closer to the scientist every day and found herself caring for him. The feelings weren't romantic…they were more than that. It was like…as if…

As if they were family, something Lisa hadn't had for centuries.

It was a good feeling.

That afternoon in October, Marty and Jennifer had come by after school for homework help as they always did. They were studying the planets of the solar system and doing some review questions.

" 'True or False'," read Marty. " 'Saturn is the only planet with rings'."

"False," said Lisa as the other three looked at her. "Oh, wait, this is 1983. They haven't found the others yet. Well, Uranus', but not Jupiter or Neptune's."

"What?"

"All the gas giants in Earth's solar system have rings, not just Saturn. Jupiter's rings were found in 1979 but won't be thoroughly investigated 'til the '90s. And Neptune's rings won't be discovered until 1989."

Jennifer was flipping through the science book. "This says that Saturn's the only planet with rings, though."

"It must be out of date," said Doc. "Lisa's right about Uranus. Its rings were discovered in 1977."

"Hey, maybe we could get extra credit for proving the book is wrong," said Marty with a grin.

"Just don't mention Jupiter or Neptune." Lisa said with a grin of her own.

The teens went back to their homework while Doc was soldering some circuit boards for his secret project and Lisa was sitting with Einstein – who'd finally somewhat ceased sticking to her like glue but still enjoyed being near her – on the cot reading one of Doc's books, _Journey to the Center of the Earth_.

Einstein was eyeing Doc with a curious look. **_"Ask him,"_** he woofed to Lisa, **_"why he hasn't told you guys about his birthday on Saturday."_**

"What?!" she exclaimed, startling the humans. "Doc! Why didn't you tell us your birthday was on Saturday?!"

"What?" said Marty. "Yeah, Doc! What gives?"

"Who told you…oh." The scientist shrugged. "I didn't feel it was necessary. It's just a day like any other except that you complete the one-year aging cycle. It's nothing to get excited about."

"Doc!" Marty said. "A birthday is _everything_ to get excited about!"

"Don't you do _anything_?" asked Jennifer.

"I might treat myself to some cake or something, but other than that no. It's not like it's a national holiday or anything."

Lisa wanted to protest but a projected thought from Marty made her stop. The teen said, "Okay, Doc. Fine. If you don't want to make a big deal about it, then we won't. Right, girls?"

Catching Marty's wink, Jennifer said, "Sure."

Marty apparently had a plan.

Later that day Doc had to run to the hardware store and that was when Marty, Jennifer and Lisa got together, whispering conspiratorially.

"I say we throw Doc a party," said Marty. "Even though he's saying different, I'd bet he like one."

"That's a great idea!" said Jennifer. "But who would we invite? Not my dad…he'd flip!"

"Yeah…not my parents or the band, either. I mean, they're okay with Doc, but they still think he's kinda…you know."

Lisa seethed automatically, her wingtips turning red, but she bit back anything she was going to say. "I guess it'd just be us, then."

"Yeah, us, presents and a cake." Marty said.

"What do you think he'd like for a gift?" asked Jennifer.

"Probably something to do with time," said Lisa, glancing around to all the clocks in the room.

"Yeah, no kidding," said Jennifer. "But I don't want us to all get him the same gift."

"I'm gonna get him a new sax," said Marty. "His old one's all muddy-sounding."

"Jennifer, how about I get him a clock and you do a watch?" asked Lisa. "That way we won't have a chance of him getting a duplicate."

"Great idea."

Doc's return hushed any further conversations but the matter definitely wasn't dropped.

Saturday  
October 22, 1983  
12:27PM

Three days later, Lisa, Marty and Jennifer had sent Doc to the Burger King to get food and to get him out of the house while they set up for the party. Lisa knew that the restaurant would be crowded at this time of day so they had at least twenty minutes before he'd be back.

Pooling their money, the three of them had bought decorations, balloons, a couple of cards and a chocolate cake. Marty had made good on his claim to get Doc a sax, Jennifer had gotten him a nice watch and Lisa, remembering that Doc had told her he'd wanted to be a cowboy as a child, had found a clock with cowboy boots, a hat and a gun in a holster. The clock face also very slightly resembled the clock tower. They'd wrapped the presents and set them on one of Doc's folding tables.

"This is great, guys," said Lisa, using her telekinetics to affix streamers to the ceiling. "Doc's completely convinced we thought he was serious about forgetting his birthday."

"He's not too upset, is he?" asked Marty as he taped a couple of balloons to the table.

"Nah, just a little disappointed. He'll love this party."

"Good."

"In fact, he's on his way back now." Lisa could hear him coming.

"Quick, get back here," said Marty as the two girls hurried behind the table.

They waited with baited breath as Doc came inside juggling three paper bags of fast food and a carrying tray of the sodas. He was grumbling slightly as he entered. "You kids better appreciate – "

"SURPRISE!"

"Great Scott!" He almost dropped the food but Lisa caught it with TK just in time, levitating the bags and drinks to the table.

"Happy birthday!" they chorused, Marty adding, "Sorry about the orange and black decorations. All the stores had were Halloween stuff."

"We got our parents and Marty's band to sign cards," said Jennifer.

"And we got you to buy the food." Lisa finished, smiling. "We'll pay you back later."

Doc was, to say the least, completely stunned. "You…did all this…for me?"

"Yep," was the simple answer. "We couldn't let a friend's birthday go by unnoticed."

To their surprise they saw the start of tears forming in the scientist's eyes. Lisa went to his side, placing a hand on his arm. "We didn't upset you, did we? It's a party." Maybe she'd misunderstood what she'd sensed.

Doc took her hand and pulled the three of them into hugs. "No, you don't understand. This is the first birthday I've had since…it's been a long time. A _very_ long time. Thank you so much."

They hugged him back. "Hey, no problem, Doc," said Marty. "C'mon, open your presents."

They made him sit down on an armchair and handed him the gifts one by one. He loved them all as well as the cards. They ate, they drank their sodas, they laughed and Marty and Doc played a duet with their guitar and saxophone. Lisa would have joined in with her pan flute but she didn't have it on her.

Later that night, after Marty and Jennifer had gone home, Lisa approached Doc with her hands behind her back. "So you really enjoyed the party?"

"I did indeed. You have no idea what it meant to me." He considered his words. "Then again, since you're telepathic, you almost certainly have _every_ idea."

She laughed. "Yeah, true. Look, uh…I wanted to give you something else, but I didn't want to do it with Marty and Jennifer here." She handed him another card.

Puzzled, Doc took it. "Whyever not?"

"Because it's a little sappy and I'm a little embarrassed."

Intrigued, Doc opened the card. It was one of those blank ones and Lisa had written a few short paragraphs inside.

_Dear Doc,_

_This card is to say thank you. I've traveled to so many places and to so many times but very rarely do I meet someone like you. You remind me a lot of my best friend and, believe me, that's a good thing._

_I'm very glad I decided to swipe Einstein's Frisbee that day. I've grown to care about you in the few months we've been together. In fact, I think of you as if you're a member of my own family and that's something I haven't had for centuries._

_I love you very much. I wish you a very happy birthday and many, many more._

_Love,  
Lisa_

Doc closed the card and looked at her as she avoided his eyes, her wings flushed pink. He reached for her hand and brought her into his arms. "Thank you, Lisa," he said into her hair. "I care for you, too."

Lisa pecked his cheek right at the corner of his mouth and he reciprocated. She didn't expect what happened next. Within her mind she felt a soft _pop!_ and she suddenly felt Doc's mind open up to her. Her left heart began to beat stronger.

Doc felt something, too. He blinked twice as the ticking of his clocks became louder to him. He covered his ears, squeezing his eyes shut. "Great Scott…they've never been that loud before…"

Lisa put her hands on his. "Doc, look at me." He raised his eyes up. "Focus on my voice and concentrate on only that. Focus, Doc."

It took him a minute but he finally did. She expected his next question. "What just happened? I've never been bothered by the clocks before."

"That was me," she said. "I guess…huh, I guess it works even if the feelings aren't romantic."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I…think we've become linked. It's something that happens when I love someone who loves me back, but this is the first time it's happened when the love isn't romantic love." Doc just frowned. "There's one way to test it…" she said, then switched to telepathy. _Can you_…_you can._ She'd noticed his eyes widen as she "spoke". _Wow_…

_Am I capable of communicating this way as well?_

_I can already hear you, it's just now you'll be able to hear me, too, and I'll be able to hear what you send to me._

"Incredible…" Doc whispered, touching his hand to his chest. "What's that echo…this strange feeling?"

"My second heart," said Lisa. "You're hearing what I hear normally and the 'echo' is my second heart. Your heart and my left heart now beat in synch. That's what you feel. We'll be able to feel what the other does."

"Unbelievable…Lisa, you just keep surprising me."

She laughed. "Doc, sometimes, I even surprise myself."

_The End_


End file.
